The Chosen
by hummerhouse
Summary: When friends they'd helped in the past start to disappear one by one, the Turtles leap into action to learn what's happened to them. Written for the TMNT 2003 Series Fanbook 2018. Two-shot, 2k3.
1. Chapter 1

The Chosen  
part 1

"Have you guys seen Donny?" Leo asked as he walked towards the couch.

Neither Raph nor Mikey looked up, both too intent on their video game.

"Nope," Raph answered, gnashing his teeth and swaying with the movement of the character he was playing. "Check his lab."

"I just came from there," Leo said. "I checked the garage too. Don's shell cycle is gone. He usually tells someone when he's going out."

"Not if he's going to see the Professor at the junkyard," Mikey said, leaning forward as his onscreen character dodged a laser blast. "Call him."

Leo pulled his shell cell from his belt and placed a call to Donatello's phone. After counting off twelve rings, Leo gave up.

"He's not answering," Leo said. "That's not like Don. I'm going to grab his scanner and try to track him."

As he jogged over to Don's lab, his brothers saved their game and turned the televisions off. They got up to join Leo when he came back with the scanner.

"Got him?" Raph asked.

Leo nodded. "This shows he's at the junkyard. Or at least his phone is. Come on, we need to find him."

Taking the elevator up to the garage, the trio jumped into the Battle Shell and Raph quickly drove towards the junkyard. They were nearly there when Leo's shell cell rang.

"Donny? Where are you? I tried to call and . . . ." Leo began.

 _"I'm at the Professor's junkyard,"_ Don interrupted in a harsh whisper. _"I turned my phone off so it wouldn't give away my position. I think someone is following me. I didn't want to go back to my shell cycle in case they've got someone watching it."_

"Stay hidden," Leo instructed, exchanging glances with Raph. "We're nearly there."

 _"Be careful,"_ Don whispered. _"I don't know how many there are."_

Raph stepped on the gas pedal and the Battle Shell shot forward. It wasn't long before they reached the junkyard, but rather than pulling in as they usually did, Raph parked around the corner.

Entering the junkyard together, the brothers spread out. Remaining in the shadows, they moved towards Don's location, watching for signs of the people who were stalking him.

A slight difference in the shape of a junked car's shadow caught Leo's notice. Staring at it intently, he saw it shift.

Mikey realized that Leo had stopped moving. Looking over at his older brother, he saw Leo signal towards the car. With a low hiss, Mikey got Raph's attention. Keeping still, they all watched as a slender, red-headed man slipped out from behind the car and ran lightly over the ground to a new hiding place.

After waiting for a few minutes, the turtles became certain that the man was alone. With great care, the brothers moved into positions surrounding him.

A gesture from Leo sent them forward all at once. Startled, the man swung a fist at Mikey, who pushed it aside just before Raph jumped on the man's back and drove him to the ground.

Grabbing one of the man's arms, Raph yanked it behind his back and pulled up on it. Fear of having his arm broken stopped the man's struggles.

"Who are you? Why are you following our brother?" Leo asked as Don walked up to join them.

Coughing out a mouthful of dust, the man exclaimed, "I'm Razorfist! Please guys, we need your help!"

"Razorfist?" Don stared at the man as Raph climbed off of him and helped him to his feet. "You are! Why were you trailing me? Why didn't you just walk up and introduce yourself?"

"I needed to make certain neither of us was being followed," Razorfist said. "My real name is Shane by the way."

"Okay Shane, what's the deal? Who needs help?" Raph asked.

"All of us; all of the people the Foot turned into monsters," Shane said. "We keep in touch with each other and the people you know as Cyclops and Insectoid have gone missing. We've been very wary of our surroundings since that happened to us and we never go anywhere without letting the others know where we'll be."

"Guys, maybe we should continue this discussion elsewhere," Leo said. "If someone is after the underground survivors, we shouldn't be out here in the open."

Don went to retrieve his shell cycle and the other four took extra precautions as they returned to the Battle Shell. Taking different routes to the lair, the group kept a close eye on their back trail to make certain they weren't followed.

During the ride, Mikey tied a bandana over Shane's eyes. "Sorry, but our Father doesn't like for anyone to know where we live."

"That's okay," Shane said. "Right now I'm sort of wishing I had a secret hideout."

They didn't talk again until they had all reached the safety of the lair. After taking Shane down in the elevator, Mikey removed the blindfold and indicated he should have a seat on the couch.

"It's been more than a year since we cured you guys and you came back above ground," Don said. "How have all of you been doing?"

"Pretty well," Shane said. "It took some adjustment to get back to our lives. The hardest part was coming up with a story for our friends and family to explain what had happened to us. Fortunately we've had each other to help make the transition easier. Greg, the guy you know as Stonebiter, and Cyclops are actually rooming together. Greg is freaking out."

"How long have the two been missing?" Leo asked.

"Insectoid, Rachel, has been gone for three days," Shane answered. "David, that's Cyclops' real name, disappeared the day after that. What's worse, I haven't been able to reach Sydney this evening. She and I are . . . together. She told me she was going to try to find our friends and that if she went missing, I was to go to that junkyard at night and keep going each night until I saw one of you.

"This is the worst feeling in the world," Shane continued, running his hands through his hair in agitation. "Worse than when we were first taken. We've never known why we were chosen and now it seems we've still got targets on our backs. I have to find Sydney, I can't live without her. She means too much to me."

"Could the Foot be after them again for some reason?" Raph asked, looking at Don.

"It's possible, but I don't know why," Don said. "Shredder shut down the program once he'd determined that the Utrom weren't underground. That's all he cared about. As far as he knew, his 'experiments' had been destroyed. I found no sign that the archived video logs were ever transmitted beyond the genetics lab."

"Wouldn't he have noticed when his scientists didn't 'phone home'?" Mikey asked.

"Maybe he didn't care," Raph said. "They spent his money and didn't give him what he wanted."

"After a year, we thought we could relax a little," Shane said. "Sydney's got a good job working nights as a systems engineer and I found a new band to play in. I'm a musician. Night before last I sensed someone lurking in the shadows in the alley behind the club where I was playing. That's exactly the scenario from when I was captured the first time. I went right back inside."

"You didn't get a look at whoever it was?" Leo asked.

Shane shook his head. "I didn't take the time. We'd already lost touch with Rachel so we were all being extra cautious."

Something in Shane's turn of phrase made Don curious. "You said you 'sensed' that someone was hiding nearby. What did you mean by that?"

"It seems that we've all retained some attributes from our previous mutation," Shane said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I'm pretty sure they used some scorpion DNA when they mutated me. I can still feel vibrations from my surroundings and my sense of smell is much sharper than it ever was before."

"Fascinating," Don said.

"Admire it later, Brainiac," Raph said. "Right now we need to figure out what's happened to our friends and put a stop to it."

"Where was Sydney when she went missing?" Leo asked.

"She was taking a cab to her office when I last saw her," Shane said. "Sydney was going to turn over a couple of projects to co-workers and then ask for a few days off. She planned to backtrack both Rachel and David to see if she could get a clue about what happened to them. I told her to wait until after I played my final session for the night and I'd go with her."

"Then the first thing we should do is find out if she made it to her office," Leo said. "Did you talk to anyone there?"

"I called one of her co-workers when she didn't answer her phone," Shane said. "He told me Sydney never came in."

"Did you see Sydney actually get into the cab?" Don asked.

Shane frowned. "No. She called for one the way she usually does. It's more expensive than taking the subway, but none of us really likes to walk the streets by ourselves anymore."

"Which cab company and what's your address?" Don asked.

"Yellow," Shane told him and then gave him the address of the apartment he and Sydney shared.

"Okay, let me check the cab company's call logs," Don said, heading for his computer.

"So you guys work night jobs," Mikey said. "How about the others?"

"Most of us do now," Shane said. "It's hard for us to sleep at night, partly because we're afraid of intruders and partly because we want to enjoy the daylight."

"Do you know where Rachel and David were before they vanished?" Leo asked.

"Rachel waits tables at an all-night diner," Shane said. "She worked her shift and got off at three a.m., but never made it home. David is a technician at a vet hospital. He watches over the animals at night. The technician who takes over from him at five a.m. said David handed off some instructions and then left. He wasn't seen after that."

"How do they usually get home?" Mikey asked.

"They both use ride sharing companies," Shane said. "Greg is night manager at a twenty-four drug store chain. He has a company car and sometimes can get away to give us lifts to the places we need to go."

"Sounds like ya' guys are really close," Raph said.

Shane shrugged. "Share a life-altering experience like we did and you're sort of bound together. We all have certain leftover skills from the mutations. It's hard for us to get close to anyone outside our group because we don't want to explain why we're so different."

"We can relate to that," Mikey said.

"I may have something," Don said excitedly as he rejoined them. "I found the number for the cab that was dispatched to pick up Sydney and then called the guy who's assigned to that cab. He said when he got to your building, there was a cab from a different company in front and that a girl matching Sydney's description was getting into it. Since he didn't know who he was waiting on, he sat at the curb for twenty minutes and then left. He remembers because it happened only a few hours ago and because he was angry."

"She took a different cab? Did you check on their records?" Shane asked.

"That's just it," Don said. "There is no such cab company listed anywhere. Whoever picked up Sydney knew her routine and was waiting for her in one of the few places where she feels safe."

"If you can fake a cab, seems like it wouldn't be that hard to fake a ride sharing car," Mikey said.

"Easier actually," Don said. "I can hack into the dispatch systems for any of the ride share companies and easily find out when a certain person has requested a ride."

"Sydney was right," Shane said. "Someone is kidnapping the survivors from the underground."

"Yes they are," Don said. "And whoever it is, they are smart and they have resources."

"So are we," Leo said, looking at Shane with determination. "You came to us for help and you'll get it. We're going to find Sydney and the others and learn who kidnapped them. Count on it."

TBC….


	2. Chapter 2

The Chosen  
part 2 final

"I've got this," Mikey said, sitting down next to Shane. "I watch all the detective shows. The first thing they always ask is if anything unusual has happened to you recently."

"Ya' mean besides someone following them?" Raph asked sarcastically.

Mikey shot him a withering look. "There's always something that happens before the stalking."

"I can't think of anything," Shane said. "Our lives have been routine. We like it that way."

"So no visitors, or repairmen, or weird smells, or odd letters, or phone calls, or . . . ." Mikey began.

Shane sat up straight and snapped his fingers. "Wait. Letters and phone calls. Both Sydney and I did get a couple of letters from some medical research firm. They looked like junk mail so we tossed them. After that we each got calls from the same firm asking if we'd participate in a drug research program. They said they were looking for people our age and that we'd receive free medical services for a year if we agreed to participate. Of course we both said no."

"Do you think the others received similar letters and calls?" Leo asked.

"I can find that out easily enough," Shane said, pulling his cell phone from his pocket.

The turtles waited as the man placed three calls. Each time after he received answers to his question, he admonished the person on the other end of the line to be careful. When Shane was finished calling, he frowned.

"What did they say?" Mikey asked.

"They all got the same exact letters and calls," Shane said. "Greg said that David did too. What does that mean?"

"Sounds like someone went from trying to get you all to come in voluntarily straight to plan B," Don said.

"Yeah, taking ya' by force," Raph said.

"Since we haven't much time, let's make some assumptions," Leo said. "First, that the company who sent the letters is bogus. Two, that whoever is orchestrating this knows what the seven of you have in common."

"That leaves the Shredder," Raph said, his upper lip twitching with anger.

"But that makes no sense," Don said. "He didn't ask for volunteers the first time, he just had them kidnapped. Shredder isn't capable of this type of subtlety."

"Donny's right," Mikey said. "Shredder thinks everything is owed to him. He'd never ask, he'd just do whatever he wanted."

"This approach is systematic and well-thought out," Don said. "Who do we know with access to Shredder's data base and who has no problem doing things behind his back?"

"Stockman!" the four turtles said in unison.

"Who is Stockman?" Shane asked, looking at the turtles in confusion. "What does he want with us?"

"Who cares," Raph said. "We can ask him after we get your pals back."

"The problem will be getting to him," Leo said. "He'll be inside Shredder's compound. We all know how hard it is to gain access to that building."

"Not necessarily," Don said. "Not the getting inside Shredder's compound part, that's beyond difficult. I've sort of been keeping tabs on Stockman's whereabouts, since he tends to pop up at inopportune times. His Stocktronics Corporation owned a warehouse near the docks. The energy usage there has spiked in the last couple of months."

"That's exactly the sort of thing he'd do if he were trying to keep secrets from his boss," Leo said. "Let's go shut him down boys."

"I'm coming with you," Shane said, standing up.

"You've had no training," Leo said. "You could get hurt."

"Sydney's his girlfriend dude," Mikey said, rising also and setting a hand on Shane's shoulder. "He's already deep in it, he deserves to see this through."

"All right," Leo said, giving Shane a stern look. "Keep your head down and do what I say no matter what we encounter."

"I will," Shane promised.

Mikey blindfolded him and the group rode up to the garage. Don got behind the wheel of the Battle Shell and after they pulled out onto the city streets, Mikey removed Shane's blindfold.

"So~o, how soon after you guys returned above ground did you and Sydney get together?" Mikey asked.

"Almost immediately," Shane said. "We got in touch with our families, but being apart from each other didn't feel natural. We'd developed a connection when we were monsters and it stayed with us. It's the only good thing to come from our ordeal."

"How'd Sydney know to send ya' to the junkyard to look for us?" Raph asked.

"I told her," Don said. "It was when they were returning topside. I told Sydney that if she ever needed us, to go to that junkyard and leave a message with the Professor."

"She left that part out," Shane said. "I'm just glad one of you was there tonight."

They soon reached the docks and Don did a slow drive-by of the building owned by Stockman. There were no vehicles parked nearby and no lights shining through the high windows.

"Looks deserted," Raph said.

"I'd make certain it looked that way if I were double crossing the Shredder," Leo said. "Park out of sight and let's find a way inside."

Leaving the Battle Shell on a secluded side street, the group crept towards the warehouse, keeping to the shadows. Shane was a natural at remaining invisible, either because he was emulating the turtles, or because of the residual scorpion genetics, possibly both.

They stopped moving when Don lifted a hand. Once they were huddled around him, Don said, "There are cameras and motion detectors near the roof line. I looked up the building design and there's a way in through the roof, but I'll have to deactivate the motion detectors and shift the camera angles first. There's a safe approach that'll get me close enough to do both, but you guys need to hang back until I signal an all clear."

"Be careful, Donny. Stockman is both smart and paranoid," Leo said.

Even before Leo finished his warning, Don was already creeping towards the building, one hand digging around in his duffel bag. In seconds he was out of sight.

"You guys are really good at this," Shane whispered.

"We're ninjas," Mikey replied with a touch of boastfulness. "This is how we roll."

Raph crossed his arms and made a face at his brother, but didn't bother saying anything. After a few minutes Leo's shell cell beeped once as a signal that he should use the attached headpiece.

"News?" Leo asked, speaking into the microphone.

 _"All clear,"_ Don said _. "Follow the route I took until you see me. I'll lead the way up to the top of the building."_

The group set off single file, keeping Shane between them. Donatello stood near a thick drain pipe that was attached to the side of the building.

"We can shimmy up on the pipe," Don said in a low voice. "It's strong enough as long as we go one at a time. I've made minor adjustments to the cameras, so keep your bodies close to the wall."

Leo nodded and took the lead. As soon as he was on the roof, Mikey went up, followed by Shane, then Raph. Don climbed up last.

There was a maintenance access point near the center of the roof with one of Don's screwdrivers holding the door open.

"Security?" Leo asked, glancing at Don.

"There's a pressure sensitive mat under the ladder," Don said. "Step on it and alarms go off. As long as we jump from the ladder to avoid the mat, we'll be okay. I've already shifted the only camera in the hallway."

This time Don went first. After everyone was inside, Don dug a hand-held device from his duffel bag. Watching the meter on its display, he turned in a full circle and then pointed out the direction they should take.

As they sprinted down the hallway, Leo asked, "What are we following?"

"Electricity," Don said. "The area with the highest usage is probably where we'll find our friends."

Raph dealt quickly with a locked door at the end of the hallway. On the other side of the door was a large room filled with computers, lab equipment, and a number of familiar looking machines.

"Aren't these like those machines in the underground lab?" Leo asked.

Don grimaced. "I'm seeing devices related to biology, physiology, and genome analysis. It's a genetics lab."

"This is exactly like the place we were taken when we were first mutated," Shane said.

"What the shell's going on around here?" Raph asked.

"Hey guys, I found our friends!" Mikey called out from one side of the room.

Rushing over to him, they found Mikey standing in front of three large glass chambers, each filled with a greenish liquid. Inside were Rachel, David, and Sydney.

"They're suspended in a stasis liquid," Don said.

"Are they all right?" Mikey asked, leaning in close to Sydney's chamber.

"They should be," Don answered, "we just have to get them out."

"I'll get them out," Raph said, drawing his sai.

Don squatted down in front of the control panel on Sydney's chamber. "Actually, no blunt force required."

After turning a knob, Don pushed a couple of buttons and the liquid began to drain from the chamber. After a moment the door popped open and Don caught Sydney as she fell forward.

Gasping and coughing, Sydney blinked her eyes several times and then looked at her rescuer. "Donatello! How . . . ?"

"Shane found us, just like you asked him to," Don said, stepping back as the man came forward to hold his girlfriend.

As Don released the other two prisoners, Mikey found blankets to wrap around the wet and shivering people. Their clothes and shoes were soaked, but they'd have to wait to change them until after they completed their escape.

Turning to Raph, Leo said, "Now we can break things."

Raph grinned as Leo pulled his swords.

"Stop!"

Everyone turned to the large robotic figure who'd just entered the room.

"Stockman! We knew ya' were behind this," Raph said.

"Why is the Shredder interested in these people again?" Leo demanded.

Snorting his derision, Stockman said, "The Shredder? That ignoramus has no clue what advantages these genetic manipulations could bring about. Even you lowly creatures have defeated him time and again."

"These are innocent people," Leo said.

"Oh please," Stockman said, walking forward. "They are science experiments. When I discovered the reports on the successful mutations, I knew I'd located a veritable goldmine. Unfortunately, the scientist's actual lab notes were nowhere to be found, so I couldn't get my hands on the raw technical data."

"I told you we'd destroyed all of it," Sydney said.

"I know you did, my dear. So did your two friends," Stockman said. "I'd already prepared for that contingency. Since the reports did contain all of the names of the people the Foot captured for Shredder's little tests, I decided to gather you all together again. A sort of homecoming. With your DNA, blood and tissue samples, I should be able to re-create the original experiments."

"You're sick," Rachel said.

"We won't let you do this," Leo said.

"As if you have a choice," Stockman responded, pressing a button on the control pad attached to his wrists.

Mechanical arms extended down from the ceiling. At the end of each was a laser pistol.

Raph laughed. "Ya' oughta know by now those ain't much good against us."

"I've greatly enhanced the tracking abilities of my lasers," Stockman bragged. "You won't outrun them this time."

"You really don't care about anyone but yourself, do you?" Leo asked.

Mikey appeared deep in thought. Raph was just about to leap for Stockman when Mikey suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Hey Stockman, does Shredder know you've got this secret lab?" Mikey asked.

All traces of audacity disappeared from Stockman's face and his expression appeared almost panicked.

"He doesn't, does he?" Raph asked, gloating. "Wonder how he'd react to that knowledge."

Don had caught on. "Since you built all of this with his money but without his knowledge, he wouldn't be happy."

"Especially once he figured out you meant to build yourself a mutant army specifically to go after him," Leo said.

Sydney and her three friends had moved back and were standing near a lab table covered in equipment.

"I don't think your lasers will hit us," Sydney said. "We're too valuable."

With that, she and David overturned the table, sending the expensive machines crashing to the floor.

"Stop that!" Stockman yelled.

"I think I have the Shredder on speed dial," Mikey said, holding up his phone.

"No!" Stockman shouted. "Don't call him!"

"He won't, as long as you help me destroy every last bit of information regarding the mutation experiments and anything referencing the innocent people who've been caught in the middle of this insanity," Don said.

For a moment Stockman looked as if he was going to explode. "Fine," he said through gritted teeth.

He moved towards a computer and Don joined him. Within seconds Stockman had accessed his data base and Don began to erase all of the information.

Meanwhile, the other turtles, along with the four humans, raced around the room destroying every bit of the machinery and any samples that Stockman had collected.

When all of the files had been purged, Stockman stepped back and said, "There, I hope you're happy."

"Not quite yet," Don said, reaching for the controls on Stockman's wrist band. "May I?"

Without waiting for a response, he activated the lasers. They began to blast the room, hitting the larger machines and the computer main frame. Smoke started to curl up from the overheated equipment and Don quickly ran over to where his brothers waited.

"Time to go," Leo said.

"Don't try that again Stockman," Raph warned as the group headed for the door. "We don't take kindly to anyone messing with our friends."

"You freaks have destroyed all of my brilliant work. Again. You insufferable nitwits have interfered with me for the last time. Do you hear me? The next time we meet, I'm going to erase your sorry shells," Stockman ranted.

"Why wait?" Raph asked, twirling his sais and turning to face Stockman.

"Not now," Leo said, setting a hand on Raph's arm.

"Things are going to start going boom any second now, Raphie boy," Mikey said as he exited the room.

"Enjoy the explosions," Raph said, grinning at Stockman before turning to follow his brothers.

The first explosion hit as they were ascending the ladder up to the roof. Moving fast, the group ran across the rooftop and slid down the drainage pipe.

They were only a few paces from the building when a series of explosions shook the ground. Fragments of burning material rained down on them as they raced for cover.

Under the relative safety of a nearby building's covered entryway, they watched as fire shot through the roof of Stockman's lab facility.

"I wonder if he made it out," Mikey mused.

"He made it," Raph said. "That nutcase is a survivor."

"Thank you guys," Sydney said, drawing the turtle's attention. "You saved us."

"Happy to," Mikey said. "We're always there for our friends."

"Come on, we'll give you a lift back to your homes," Don said.

"Do you think we'll have to keep watching over our shoulders for the rest of our lives?" Shane asked as they walked towards the Battle Shell.

"I hope not," Leo replied. "No guarantees of course, but I think we got rid of everything that made any reference to you when we blew up Stockman's lab."

"Someday we're gonna blow up the Shredder too, then ya' won't having anything to worry about ever again," Raph said. "That's a promise."

Fin


End file.
